POPLE Etymology: 'one who lived at the popple-tree' (into English as ‘poplar’, classified as Anglo-Norman from the French ‘peuplier’, from the Old French ‘pueple’, from the Latin ‘populus – a poplar tree (** see the Piazza Popolo)’, the ultimate origin is unknown; perhaps from Etruscan: compare the Ancient Greek πτελέα "elm"). In Minnesota about 1900, 'poples' was a common term for poplar trees.